Following this year’s contentious Logie Awards, a conflict between two of Australia’s biggest TV personalities over a parking spot has been fully revealed for the first time.
Network Ten sources have revealed Lisa Wilkinson’s altercation with reputable news presenter Sandra Sully in 2017, which caused the host of The Project to be dubbed the “car park thief” and alienated devoted colleagues.
According to a former employee of Ten, it all started when Wilkinson made her high-profile transition from Nine following her contentious termination after ten years on Today.
After arriving at Ten’s Pyrmont studios in a shining white Audi convertible (for which she has served as an ambassador for many years), Wilkinson allegedly drove into one of the few available parking spaces near the staff door without waiting.
The only issue was that Ten legend Sully, who would arrive later in the day to prepare for her regular 5pm program, was the owner of the area, which was plainly marked as “reserved.”
Sully was especially concerned about the safety of the area because that same year she had spoken out for the first time about the brutal attack she had survived in the parking lot of her apartment complex in 2007.
Sully was being held at gunpoint by a masked assailant when the attacker pressed the trigger twice, but the pistol did not go off, saving Sully from a much worse fate.
I’m still not a fan of surprises. I jump if someone makes a loud noise. In a parking lot, I am usually alert,” Sully said to Stellar in 2017.
According to sources at Ten, car park security kindly informed Wilkinson—who joined the network a month before Sully’s tell-all—that the space was not to be used by anyone other than the newsreader and one would be arranged for her.
Despite this, it’s claimed that Wilkinson proceeded to occupy the designated space and even ran over traffic cones that had been placed nearby to deter her from doing so.
One employee of Ten who has since moved networks recalled, “At first it became a kind of a joke that this was happening and it was simply something that we all gossiped about in hair and makeup.”
But after that, it persisted. And as a result, we could all see how upset Sandra was.
You don’t irritate Sandra, either. You simply don’t. We cherish Sandra.
One senior Ten executive suggested that Wilkinson and Sandra “share” the area because the newsreader typically arrived at the studio later in the day. It is understood that a limited number of supporters stood with Wilkinson.
He reasoned that Wilkinson could utilize it until Sully showed up.
This strategy, however, obviously didn’t work since when Sandra allegedly arrived in Pyrmont, Wilkinson’s white Audi had allegedly taken over her parking space.
The Ten insider claimed, “This is when colleagues really started to coalesce [behind Sully].”
Who in their right mind gets offside with Sandra, therefore it became a major deal,
In the end, the issue was easily fixed on its own when Wilkinson ceased visiting the Pyrmont studios and established a wholly Melbourne-based headquarters, where The Project is shot.
However, the matter is still being discussed at Ten, and it came up again last week when Tim Bailey, a former Channel Ten weatherman, publicly criticized Wilkinson for her disastrous Logies address.
Bailey tweeted, “Just accept ya F-ing tiny award and F off!” in reference to a famous remark made by comedian Ricky Gervais.
He concluded by adding the hash tag “#carparkthief”
Bailey, who was sensationally fired from his beloved weatherman position at Ten back in 2020, declined to comment further when contacted this week, saying Daily Mail Australia: “Am in Thailand on vacation…
had no idea what the fuss was about.
I’m blissfully retired and a million miles away from all that crap, he continued.
Due to their 20-year working relationship, though, Ten staff members close to the former weatherman stated he and Sandra remained “solid friends.”
Peter Meakin, a former consultant for Ten News and a broadcasting veteran, declined to speak about the now-famous incident despite being present at the network. Meakin has since left Ten and now works for Roving Enterprises, which produces The Project.
I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything to add to this tale, Meakin said.
However, he added, “I know both (Sully and Wilkinson) and have a lot of time for both of them.”
However, following Wilkinson’s Logies statement, which led to a warning from the ACT Supreme Court to The Project star not to discuss the Brittany Higgins issue in public, various hints as to the two’s present relationship became obvious last week.
The media, the legal community, and the general public all criticized Wilkinson for bringing up Higgins in the case even though it hadn’t yet been heard in court.
A tweet criticizing Wilkinson that stated: “If only she’d stuck to ridiculous things like the paparazzi that chased her in Chapel Street” was “liked” by Sully, which is telling. I hope she backs off and people can seek the justice they (both parties) deserve.
Sully eventually deleted her “like,” but not before numerous Ten employees, both past and current, took notice of it.
One person remarked, “A handful of us saw that and recognized exactly what that was about.”
Interestingly, Ten has since completely eliminated the staff parking lot, allowing employees to’rent’ a space if they so desire.
When Daily Mail Australia contacted Wilkinson, Sully, and a Network Ten spokesman this week, they all declined to provide any additional comment.
According to sources, Wilkinson, one of the highest-paid television personalities in Australia, has stood down from her position on The Project until mid-July.
Also purportedly deleted from Nine’s streaming coverage of the Logies was Wilkinson’s speech, delivered when she accepted the award for most outstanding news coverage for her interview with Brittany Higgins.